Money manager Ab Nicholas launching $50 million scholarship program

Saying he wants to give Wisconsin students the same opportunities he had, Milwaukee money manager Albert "Ab" Nicholas said Thursday he has created a new foundation with a $50 million endowment that will provide scholarships for selected high school basketball players to attend University of Wisconsin System schools.

The Ab Nicholas Scholarship Foundation will offer as many as 60 scholarships in its first year, and ultimately as many as 250 a year, Nicholas said. The scholarships will be renewable for a student's entire education at a four-year or two-year school, he added.

"I just believe in helping these kids get an education," Nicholas said. "Basketball and UW-Madison made it possible for me to accomplish my goals, make a very good living and enjoy what I do."

To qualify for the scholarships, students must participate in a basketball program at a public high school during their senior year. They would not necessarily be expected to play basketball after high school.

Scholarship recipients will be chosen based on need, academic achievement and character, Nicholas said.

"I just love the fact that we're doing it on a need basis," said Lynn Nicholas, Ab's daughter and the new foundation's executive director.

A committee formed by the foundation will choose the scholarship recipients. The annual scholarships will amount to $10,000 for four-year programs and $5,000 for two-year programs.

Lynn Nicholas and her father said the program is partly modeled after the one used by the Evans Scholars Foundation, which awards college scholarships to golf caddies with limited financial resources.

"This is wonderful for the state that more kids will come to the university without being put off by the sticker price or by having to work so much at a nonacademic job that they fall behind in their coursework," said Kevin P. Reilly, UW System president.

Major UW donors

Nicholas and his wife, Nancy, have been major donors to UW, which they both attended. The result of their most recent gift - the remodeling of Nancy Nicholas Hall in the UW's School of Human Ecology - was dedicated in fall, said Vince Sweeney, vice chancellor for university relations.

"They're so loyal and generous," said Sweeney, comparing them to John and Tashia Morgridge. The Morgridges, also alumni, have made many gifts to the university, including establishing with more than $165 million a scholarship program called the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars.

The way Nicholas is establishing the foundation fits his personality, said Michael Knetter, president and chief executive officer of the $2.7 billion University of Wisconsin Foundation.

"His university experience, his education, basketball, teamwork, competition - all these things are so intertwined that this scholarship program for him is the embodiment of the elements that helped create the platform for his life and career," Knetter said.

He said Nicholas admires the pyramid of success created by former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, which emphasizes principals such as friendship, loyalty and team spirit - and applies many of the things he's learned from great coaches to his business life.

Nicholas received an athletic scholarship to attend UW, where he earned an undergraduate degree in economics and an MBA in finance and investments. As a guard on the university's basketball team in the 1950s, he was twice named to the All-Big 10 team and once named to Look Magazine's All-American team. He was the highest-scoring guard in the school's history when he graduated, and was inducted into Wisconsin's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.

Nicholas was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals out of college, but was called to duty in the Army. When he left the Army, the Milwaukee Hawks offered him a $6,000 contract, but he opted for graduate school and what he believed would be a more financially lucrative career in investments.

"Basketball gave me a lot of confidence, and the UW-Madison School of Business got me directed into the business field," Nicholas said.

He went on to found Nicholas Company Inc. in 1967. The firm has $2.7 billion of assets under management. An investment of $10,000 in the firm's flagship Nicholas Fund on Sept. 30, 1969, would have been worth $781,641 on Dec. 31, according to Morningstar Inc. The same investment in the Standard & Poor's 500 index would have been worth $524,140, Morningstar's data shows.

Students can apply for scholarships between Feb. 1 and April 30. The foundation website abnicholasscholars.org, will go live Feb. 1.

If the foundation pays out the customary amount of 5% of its assets, it will provide $2.5 million a year of scholarship money. Nicholas said that amount should increase over time.

"I expect that this $50 million will grow over time because the Nicholas Company will manage it," he said.